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  Saturday, June 27, 2009

Don't Jackson my Server, Bro!

Lots of web servers seem to be straining and in some cases failing under the stress of press from MJ's death. I foresee Jackson becoming a verb. Will the next super celebrity who dies Jackson everybody's servers?


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Chatter
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  Thursday, May 28, 2009

New Weekly Hoop Jam

From Douglas "Snowflake" Robertson:

Hi Everyone,

We are being brave and setting a standing hoop jam at Mckay Park every Saturday from 3-5pm. Spread the word. It's a weekly invite open to everyone to come get your hoop on with your fellow Bend hoopers. Music system provided. Bring your ipods to share music if you like. I hope to see you all every weekend!!!

Hoopfully yours,
Snowflake

166 SW Shevlin Hixon Drive

Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: News
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  Sunday, May 24, 2009

Maybe...

From my friend C Blaha...

1. Maybe . . . we were supposed to meet the wrong people before meeting the right one so that, when we finally meet the right person, we will know how to be grateful for that gift.

2. Maybe . . . when the door of happiness closes, another opens; but, often times, we look so long at the closed door that we don't even see the new one which has been opened for us. [Didn't Helen Keller say this? - dkg]

3. Maybe . . . it is true that we don't know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we don't know what we have been missing until it arrives.

4. Maybe . . . the happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

5. Maybe . . . the brightest future will always be based on a forgotten past; after all, you can't go on successfully in life until you let go of your past mistakes, failures and heartaches.

6.. Maybe . . . you should dream what you want to dream; go where you want to go, be what you want to be, because you have only one life and one chance to do all the things you dream of, and want to do.

7. Maybe . . . there are moments in life when you miss someone -- a parent, a spouse, a friend, a child -- so much that you just want to pick them from your dreams and hug them for real, so that once they are around you appreciate them more.

8. Maybe . . . the best kind of friend is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with, never say a word, and then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

9. Maybe . . . you should always try to put yourself in others' shoes. If you feel that something could hurt you, it probably will hurt the other person, too.

10. Maybe . . . you should do something nice for someone every single day, even if it is simply to leave them alone.

11. Maybe . . . giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they will love you back. Don't expect love in return; just wait for it to grow in their heart; but, if it doesn't, be content that it grew in yours.

12. Maybe . . . happiness waits for all those who cry, all those who hurt, all those who have searched, and all those who have tried, for only they can appreciate the importance of all the people who have touched their lives.

13. Maybe . . . you shouldn't go for looks; they can deceive; don't go for wealth; even that fades away. Go for someone who makes you smile, because it takes only a smile to make a dark day seem bright. Find the one that makes your heart smile.

14. Maybe . . . you should hope for enough happiness to make you sweet, enough trials to make you strong, enough sorrow to keep you human, and enough hope to make you happy .

15. Maybe . . . you should try to live your life to the fullest because when you were born, you were crying and everyone around you was smiling but when you die, you can be the one who is smiling and everyone around you crying.


Maybe . . . you could send this message to those people who mean something to you, to those who have touched your life, to those who can and do make you smile when you really need it, to those who make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down, and to all those whom you want to know that you appreciate them and their friendship.

And if you don't, don't worry; nothing bad will happen to you. You will just miss out on the opportunity to perhaps brighten someone's day.


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Blather
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  Saturday, May 23, 2009

We Need Older Soldiers!

From my buddy T-Poe:

New Direction for any war: Send Service Vets over 60!

I am nearly 60 and the Armed Forces thinks I'm too old to track down terrorists. You can't be older than 42 to join the military. They've got the whole thing ass-backwards. Instead of sending 18-year olds off to fight, they ought to take us old guys. You shouldn't be able to join a military unit until you're at least 35.

For starters: Researchers say 18-year-olds think about sex every 10 seconds. Old guys only think about sex a couple of times a day, leaving us more than 28,000 additional seconds per day to concentrate on the enemy.

Young guys haven't lived long enough to be cranky, and a cranky soldier is a dangerous soldier. 'My back hurts! I can't sleep, I'm tired and hungry' We are impatient and maybe letting us kill some asshole that desperately deserves it will make us feel better and shut us up for a while.

An 18-year-old doesn't even like to get up before 10 a.m. Old guys always get up early to pee so what the hell. Besides, like I said, 'I'm tired and can't sleep and since I'm already up, I may as well be up killing some fanatical s-of-a-b....

If captured we couldn't spill the beans because we'd forget where we put them. In fact, name, rank, and serial number would be a real brainteaser.

Boot camp would be easier for old guys. We're used to getting screamed and yelled at and we're used to soft food. We've also developed an appreciation for guns. We've been using them for years as an excuse to get out of the house, away from the screaming and yelling.

They could lighten up on the obstacle course however. I've been in combat and didn't see a single 20-foot wall with rope hanging over the side, nor did I ever do any pushups after completing basic training.

Actually, the running part is kind of a waste of energy, too. I've never seen anyone out run a bullet.

An18-year-old has the whole world ahead of him. He's still learning to shave, to start up a conversation with a pretty girl. He still hasn't figured out that a baseball cap has a brim to shade his eyes, not the back of his head.

These are all great reasons to keep our kids at home to learn a little more about life before sending them off into harm's way.

Let us old guys track down those dirty rotten coward terrorists. The last thing an enemy would want to see is a couple of million pissed off old farts with attitudes and automatic weapons who know that their best years are already behind them.

***How about recruiting Women over 50 ... with PMS !!! You think Men have attitudes !!! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh my God!!!

If nothing else, put us on border patrol....we will have it secured the first night!

Share this with your senior friends. It's purposely in big type so they can read it.




Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Humor
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  Sunday, May 10, 2009

How to Make Your Mom's Day

Written by our friend Laura:

How to Make Mom’s Day



Spend some time with her, just the two of you
Tell her something about your day
Share something you’ve been thinking about
Offer to help with something around the house or yard
Ask about her day and listen as she shares
Share a meal, a movie, a game, a walk, something
Tell her about your friends: who are they, and what do you like about them
Tell her about something that makes you happy or sad
Share photos
Share about something you are planning, hoping or dreaming about
Talk about your work
Share artwork, poetry, music, whatever you enjoy, especially if it’s yours
Plan something to do together
Tell her something you enjoy about her, or about a happy memory you share


An easy fill-in-the blanks version for the time-challenged



Hi Mom,

Today I ___ .

Lately I’ve been thinking ____.

The friend I most recently spent time with is ____. What I like about _____ is ____.

What we did together was ____.

Something that made me feel happy recently was _____.

Something that made me feel sad recently was ___.

I have been hoping or planning ______.

Mostly I have been working on _____. I feel ____ about this.

Here is something I enjoy (link)

Here are some recent photos of me with ____ at _____ doing _____.

I will be seeing you _____. I enjoy doing _____ with you, and hope we can _____ together. I would like to help you with ______. I remember when ______.

Love,

_____





Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Chatter
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  Friday, May 08, 2009

New Restaurant Opening!



A new restaurant is opening tonight at 916 NW Wall St in downtown Bend, where Bistro Corlise used to be (next to where Merenda was, soon to be 900 Wall). Joolz is opening tonight with a menu they describe as "a fusion of Lebanese and Southwestern cuisine".

We had the luck of sampling their menu the other night, and the food was outstanding. Connie and I even tried dishes we didn't expect to like, and were surprised to find them tasting great. My favorite, though, is the chicken kebab.

In addition to the food, the service was excellent, the hostess was warm and charming, and the decor was amazing. I spent half the night just admiring all the exotic touches, like the beautiful lamps and the collection of hookahs.

We'll be eating there often.

Joolz
916 NW Wall St.
Bend, OR
541-388-5094
Open 5pm to close


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Reviews
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Wilson's Warbler

We've had these flitty little birds in the yard for over a week now. They're hard to photograph because they don't like to stay in one place or hold very still. This was taken at over 10x zoom. They're so bright and colorful!

Wilson's Warbler


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: chatter
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New Music Blog

The Bulletin has a new music blog, visible to everyone, with RSS feed and Twitter even! No paywall. kewl!

Frequency

Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: News
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  Wednesday, April 01, 2009

RIP Guiding Light

Guiding Light is Going Dark

And therein lies a tale. Around the turn of the century (about eight years ago), I was one of the co-founders of an Internet startup working on a massively-multiplayer online role-playing game. Our big hope was centered on our ability to generate storylines on the fly for players and non-player-characters, and on the advanced AI of the automated characters. We were making good progress, and had demos working.

We had an agreement with Guiding Light, the soap opera, to create an online virtual world where fans of the show could create a character and "live" in the world of Guiding Light.

On the eleventh day of September, that all changed. The news of September 11 pre-empted Guiding Light for a week or so. They lost a lot of money, and cancelled our agreement. Between that and the dotcom crash, we were unable to raise more funds, and our company was no more.

It used to be, when I lost a job, that I'd take a break and then find another job, or it would find me. It was never a problem. But with the market flooded by out-of-work programmers, and more and more programming jobs going overseas, it took me over a year to find another job.

My life was momentarily derailed by the odd confluence of a struggling soap opera, high-tech outsourcing and a douchebag scheming in an Afghan cave. But our current situation is wonderful, we love our friends and family and busy lives, and who knows where we'd be if that hadn't happened?

I'm sad to see Guiding Light going dark. We almost had a nice thing going. But I've never watched it.

Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Chatter
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Whole Foods April Fools

Whole Foods Market Nice.


Posted by Dave    Blog Tag: Links
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